Cameron in Bullingdon riot row with BBC presenter

David Cameron hit out at the BBC today over the London riots, accusing the corporation of promoting Left-wing ideas.

The Prime Minister said the BBC was "mushing together" all social ills as an excuse for doing nothing.

In a row with star presenter Evan Davis, Mr Cameron said: "When you listen to the BBC, there is a sort of danger of trying to put all this into a great mush... as an excuse for not acting."Some people almost say [that] until we deal with the problems of inequality in our society, there is nothing that you can do to deal with rioting."

Mr Cameron then promised "tough love" for the rioters to reform their behaviour and enough money to turn around the lives of 120,000 problem families in the country. It came after Davis tried to compare violence by the wealthy Bullingdon Club to the London rioters.

The Prime Minister, who was a member of Oxford University's Bullingdon Club - notorious for outrageous behaviour including smashing up restaurants - was challenged by Davis on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

"I don't want to equate it to the riots, I don't want to harp on about it but the Bullingdon Club, you know that's a youthful gang, you could almost call it, engages in violent behaviour, do you see any likeness in that to what occurred?"

The Prime Minister insisted: "We all do stupid things when we are young and we should learn the lessons".

But Mr Davis pressed on, questioning Mr Cameron on whether he had witnessed "people throwing things through windows and smashing up restaurants".

Mr Cameron denied seeing any such acts of violence, adding: "But I think what we saw in terms of the riots was actually very well organised in many cases looting and stealing and thieving."

Mr Davis refused to drop his line of questioning defending it as exploring whether the public disturbances went "well beyond these housing estates".

The Prime Minister accepted it did but stressed people did not raid shops because of anger over issues such as MPs' expenses.

Sounding increasingly irritated, he then rounded on Davis: "I might say that when you listen to the BBC, there is a sort of danger... of trying to put all this into a great mush, and make that as an excuse for not acting. Some people almost say well until we deal with the problems of inequality in our society, there is nothing that you can do to deal with rioting."

Davis tried to dispute this but Prime Minister said: "Well that's what it can slip into, Evan, if you are not careful."

On Twitter, the presenter later denied that he was accusing Mr Cameron of "hypocrisy" but Tory MPs reacted angrily to his repeated questioning over the Bullingdon Club.

Mark Field, Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster and who was a contemporary of Mr Cameron's at Oxford, said: "This was not Evan Davis's finest hour." Tory MP Douglas Carswell said: "I'm pleased to hear David Cameron speak out about the way that our state-funded broadcaster reported the riots.

"Much of the BBC's news coverage - be it about looting, the financial crisis, overseas conflict or the euro - tells us as much about the prejudices and outlook of those working for the corporation as they do about what is happening in the world."

The BBC defended the interview. A spokesman said: "The BBC's coverage and analysis of the recent riots endeavoured to explore all aspects, as our audiences would expect."

Evan Davis: A different league altogether

Evan Davis is an "extraordinary talent", David Cameron's spin chief Craig Oliver once said."When you compare him to others in the broadcasting world he is in a different league,"

Mr Oliver, who was then editor for the BBC Ten O'Clock News, added. No 10 communication chiefs may have different feelings about Davis after the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Today programme gave Mr Cameron a grilling about his membership of the notorious Bullingdon Club at Oxford and whether any comparisons could be drawn to the recent riots.

Students in the club were renowned for outrageous and over-the-top behaviour including smashing up restaurants. The line of questioning was unusual, and with his cutting style, Davis may be popular among many Today listeners but is ruffling feathers at Westminster.

The 49-year-old former BBC economics editor is himself a graduate from Oxford where he studied politics, philosophy and economics. No doubt he would have been aware of the antics of the Bullingdon Club, which were frowned upon by many other students, especially those from more humble backgrounds.

He was several years above Mr Cameron at the university. Educated at Ashcombe School in Dorking, he edited Oxford University's student newspaper, Cherwell, before going on to Harvard, where he won his master's degree in public administration.